75 years Ago…

April 18th,1949 - O’Connell Bridge - Dublin, Ireland.

On the streets there is pandemonium. Tears. Shouting. And above all else... Pride.

On this day 75 years ago, Ireland officially declared itself a Republic, and separated from the Commonwealth of Great Britain. The nation that so many had dreamed of and died for had finally become real.

Of course, the terrors of conflict in Ireland did not die with the birth of this new nation. Decades of fire and blood followed, pitting brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor. Poverty and emigration still continued, and for many in Ireland, life could prove just as cruel as the weather that battered them.

Ireland today, much like the rest of the countries of the world, is not perfect, and these days it can feel like there is so much strife and anguish that dreams of a better world can feel farther away then ever.

It's days like today, however, where it's important to remember that were it not for the dreams of a better life, dictated by freedom and justice rather than terror and force, the nation that was created 75 years ago this day would have never come to pass.

Hours before his death, Padraig Pearse, leader of the 1916 uprising wrote one last letter to his mother, ending it by stating:
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I just received Holy Communion. I am happy, except for the great grief of parting from you. This is the death I should have asked if God had given me the choice of all deaths—to die a soldier’s death for Ireland and for freedom.

We have done right. People will say hard things of us now, but later on will praise us. Do not grieve for all this, but think of it as a sacrifice which God asked of me and of you. Good-bye again, dear mother. May God bless you for your great love for me and for your great faith, and may He remember all you have so bravely suffered. I hope soon to see papa, and in a little while we shall be all together again. I have not words to tell you of my love for you and how my heart yearns to you all

I will call to you in my heart at the last moment.

Your son,
Pat.
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Let us never forget, and never stop dreaming of that better world.

God bless.